MORE Medicine...

*** Lauren posted about our New Year's Eve "party" over on her blog today. If you'd like to read and see the pictures, click HERE. ***

Well...I thought things were fine at home with James. I really thought we had another cruddy cold or whatever it is that he gets and we'd just ride it out...not so much. Since his eyes were goopy, I decided to call the nurse at the doctor's office yesterday to just see what she'd say. Usually when James is sick he has a really runny nose and then the cough comes later. He's not really had much of a cough this time...but he has had a fever and the goopy eyes.

When the nurse called back she asked if both of his eyes were draining and I said they were. She then asked if he was tugging on his ears. Ummm....I didn't mention ears, but no. Runny nose? Check. Cough? No. And her over-the-phone-diagnosis? "He probably has pinkeye and an ear infection." Ummm...what? He's never had an ear infection so I didn't know what to look for there anyway. He says his ears don't hurt (until Eddie washed his hair tonight and suddenly they did). He does cry when I wipe his eyes and he says they hurt. Other than his eyes and nose, he's had the low-grade fever and has been SUPER calm. (If you know him you know this is not his normal personality. He doesn't sit back and watch...he participates!) He also wasn't eating great.

So...to the doctor we went late yesterday afternoon. James was a really sweet boy at Dr. W.'s office, especially considering how long we'd waited. He was mostly entertained by my phone (thank you, Eddie, for the best birthday present EVER) and watching videos of himself over and over and previews of movies on iTunes. Ha! He did keep shouting, "I need to see Dr. W!" over and over but I actually didn't mind that.

When Dr. W. came in, he confirmed that the nurse's suspicions were correct - pinkeye and an ear infection! Nothing in his chest or throat. I guess to have gone for two years and almost three months with NEVER having an ear infection was a pretty good record. It had to be broken at some point, right? We left with eye drops and a prescription for amoxicillin.

On our way home we grabbed his medicine from the Publix pharmacy and he seemed very excited about taking everything. I knew what was coming, but encouraged him that it'd be FUN to take the medicine. (Probably shouldn't do that, but I hated to say, "Nope. You'll hate this!") When it came time for meds tonight, I gave him the amoxicillin in the bathtub because he has a gag reflex like I've never seen. Our usual method of giving him anything liquid is to cut a tiny piece of a straw off and have him sip his medicine through that. So far, it's the ONLY thing that we can find that he doesn't fight. Until tonight! He dug his heels in and was adamant that he wasn't taking it. I promised him five M&Ms. I "called" Dr. W. to encourage him. We brought Scout in to watch. Nothing worked. So I was the mean mama and squirted it way back in his mouth with the syringe. I hate doing that. He wasn't a fan, but it all stayed down. His reward (his choice) was to have Scout stay in the bathroom while he took a bath. Sure! Whatever keeps you from crying, Bud! :)

After his bath it was time for his eye drops. I knew this would be even more fun. We "practiced" on Daddy and Mama's eyes and showed him what we'd do. Then the screaming began. Eddie wound up holding him in a straight jacket position while I pried his eyes open to put the drops in. It was one of our finest parenting moments, I assure you! Another M&M for that round. And THEN we watched the Dinosaur Train opening sequence on my phone. THREE times. I think we'll just start with that tonight!

Whew! Parenting the sick is not fun, folks! He has, at least, been very lounge-y and snuggly and sweet. That's been nice. Yesterday he took a morning nap on my bed and a great afternoon nap in his own bed. He spent a lot of his waking hours in Daddy's recliner. He wasn't a great eater yesterday, but maybe he'll start feeling a little better and eat more than waffles, yogurt, and applesauce...and cookies.

Pitiful boy!